Job Cuts At Sam's Club

(Bentonville, AR) Wal-Mart will cut about 1,000 management positions at its Sams Club stores, a spokeswoman for the companys warehouse club chain said on Thursday. According to spokeswoman Susan Koehler , the company is consolidating about 2,800 salaried-manager positions at about 580 U.S. Sams Club stores. The restructuring, which began in early March and is expected to be completed within the next couple of weeks, was done to improve customer service and gain more flexibility in managing the stores rather than to cut costs, Koehler said. The retailer is trying to improve sales at its Sams Club division as sales growth has slowed at Wal-Marts more than 3,400 U.S. stores. A Sams Club executive said earlier this year that the retailer was not satisfied with the clubs January same-store sales gain of 3.4 percent. To improve sales, Wal-Mart is trying to broaden Sams Club appeal beyond that of small business owners and make its warehouses more relevant to women, who make most of a households buying decisions. The No. 2 U.S. warehouse club operator, which is trying to ratchet up the competition with larger rival Costco Wholesale Corp. is now offering more "affordable luxuries" such as premium wines and diamond jewelry. Koehler said the company has created three levels of higher-paying positions to replace about 1,800 of the jobs and was offering affected employees other positions in the company. (Copyright 2007 Newsroom Solutions, LLC)